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It was month 9 of living with the Wheelers.
Having started living with them in March, the Byer's ended up staying with them for much longer than they had intended. It was supposed to be just until they got back on their feet-- which technically was still true. Joyce hadn't been able to find another stable job since moving back, and Jonathan's part time job wasn't enough to support the three of them. Will had offered to try and get a part time job after school, but Joyce was against it. She thought it would be too much for him, even though Will knew what he was capable of.
So, spending Christmas with them was definitely not their preferred way to spend the Holidays, but it was their reality.
On Christmas eve, Will walked upstairs, eyes still droopy and tired from another unfulfilling night of sleep. Mike was sitting at the dinner table alone, poking at a bowl full of dry cereal. Usually, Will would tease him about the lack of milk in his bowl, but due to the fact that they had barely been speaking, he held his tongue.
Will walked towards the pantry, making himself a bowl of cereal and milk before beginning to walk back down the stairs to the basement.
"You can eat at the table, y'know," Mike muttered. Will stopped in his tracks, turning around slowly.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry."
"Sorry for what?" Mike asked, barely looking up from his bowl, still not having taken a bite the entire time Will was there.
"I don't know. I just didn't want to bother you," Will said, setting his bowl down in the seat across from Mike. Mike's signature seat was right in the middle of the seats, so it was hard to stay away from him when selecting where to sit.
Mike didn't say anything. He just continued to play with his cereal, the sound of metal scraping his bowl and Will's chewing were the only noises in the air.
When the Byer's moved in with them, everything was normal at first. It wasn't until Mike and El broke up 2 months into living with them that things got weird. Mike became quiet, which was never the case for him. Will had never known Mike to be quiet, so it honestly scared him. No matter how much he tried to talk to him about it, he wasn't able to get any explanatory information of him. It got to a point where Will decided it would be easier to stop trying, and even 7 months later, it didn't improve. they only spoke when they needed to, or when things became so awkward they decided they needed to make small talk. Will missed him. He missed his best friend.
Mike cleared his throat, and Will looked up to see Mike's eyes already on him. "Merry- er- Christmas eve," Mike said with that stupid grin on his face.
Will smiled back. He knew that sweet look on Mike's face would always get to him no matter how angry he pretended to be. "Merry Christmas eve, Mike."
That night the Wheeler's threw a small Christmas party. The adults were upstairs while the kids all sat in the basement, passing around beers that Lucas has stolen from his parent's liquor cabinet.
Even though it was technically Mike's party, he was the least involved. While the others played games, told stories, song along to Christmas music, and laughed together, mike sat in a corner, beer in hand, staring at Eleven.
Will tried to not let it get to him, he really did. He tried to just focus on his friends and not care about what Mike was doing, but it was hard. he spent those 7 months convincing himself that maybe Mike just needed some time to himself, and that he would get over Eleven in no time, but it became apparent to him that he clearly wasn't.
It was nearing 10:30, when Dustin yelled, "WE SHOULD PLAY SPIN THE BOTTLE!"
Dustin was clearly the deepest into the beers, not getting the opportunity to drink that often, so he was a bit of a light weight. Most of them denied the game, but he dragged them all into a circle, placing an empty beer bottle in the middle of the circle.
Max grabbed Lucas's arm, "You will not be participating," she said jokingly, a bit of a laugh in her voice. She paused and then continued, "unless it's Dustin."
Dustin laughed along, and started the chaos, reaching into the center and spinning the beer bottle.
The room erupted into laughter when the bottle landed on Lucas, who looked around as if he was in the TV show, not realizing he actually hasd to do it. Max pushed him into the middle, laughing harder than she felt she ever had.
They shared a small kiss, and Lucas started to pretend to puke.
"It was NOT that bad!" Dustin yelled, passing the bottle off to Eleven, who was sitting next to him. She spun it, and it landed on...
Mike.
Will's heart dropped when the bottle slowed down in front of Mike. The laughter that had previously filled the room slowed.
"Ohhh shit-" Dustin yelled.
"You guys don't have to," Max said, laying a hand on El's shoulder. El shrugged her off.
"Just a game. Right Mike?" El said, raising an eyebrow at Mike. His expression was unreadable. He hadn't made a noise this entire time. He took a moment to respond, but then nodded, scooting forward. "Right. Just a game."
El returned the favor, scooting forward towards Mike. They both leaned in, meeting in the middle for a small peck. The ooh's and aah's and laughter that were there for the last kiss were completely absent for this one, nobody knew how to act.
Once the two of them had settled back into their spots, Dustin looked around, and Lucas shot him a look.
"Wellll I think that's over! Who's up for Christmas karaoke?" Dustin yelled, breaking the intense silence, everyone cheered bolting up and started to give song suggestions. Well, everyone but Mike. He sat in the circle, expression still completely unreadable.
Will attempted to join in on the discourse among the rest of his friends, but his mind was elsewhere, and so were his eyes. Even when everyone had settled into their positions either singing or cheering along, Will found himself watching Mike's every move, trying to tell what he was thinking like he used to be able to do so easily.
Eventually, when El and Max were in the middle of singing "Christmas Wrapping," by the Waitresses, as soon as Will let his mind and eyes wander way from Mike for just a few moments, he realized that Mike had wandered off.
Not being the center of attention, Will silently slipped off, making his way upstairs.
The adults were loud, so his footsteps went unnoticed as he walked around the house, looking for Mike.
He reached Mike's room and saw the door slightly open. The pounding in his chest was loud and hard to ignore, but he took a deep breath and gently knocked on the door, peeking his head on so Mike could see who it was. Mike gestured with his hand that it was okay for will to come in, so he walked in, taking a seat next to Mike on his bed.
They were both silent for a moment, both seemingly unsure of who should say something first. Will was first to break the silence.
"You've been off all night."
Mike looked towards him, sad expression filling his face.
"I'm ruining Christmas with my shitty attitude, aren't I," Mike said with a tone so unreadable, Will couldn't tell if he was joking.
"Well, no. I'm just worried about you," Will muttered, uncertainty in his voice.
"You shouldn't be. I've been an awful friend to you these past months."
Will didn't respond right asway. he didn't want to tell him that he hadn't been, because he clearly had, but hearing how shaky his voice was and seeing his glossy eyes looking at him, it absolutely shattered his heart, and he didn't want to come up with a rude response.
They both looked away from each other at the same time. Will cleared his throat as he came up with a response.
"You love her, Mike. And it's over. I wouldn't expect you to be okay right now."
The silence was loud after Will spoke. he waited for Mike to give him a response before continuing, but it felt like every second turned into an hour as he waited for an answer.
"I don't," Mike said quietly.
"What?" Will asked, although he knew what Mike was responding to, he just didn't understand what he meant.
"I don't love her," Mike stated. his voice was sure, but it was also shaky. Not in an unconfident way, in a scared way, like he was scared of his own words.
"But you did. For a long time," Will said, more of a statement than a question. He just wanted to understand what Mike meant. he couldn't think of any other explanation as to how he'd been treating Will those past months, and why he had been acting so weird the entire night.
Mike shook his head and looked over at Will for just a moment before almost immediately looking away. Will shifted his position so he could look at Mike without turning his head. Mike ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, turning towards Will.
"I think I just didn't know what it was like to have a crush on a girl. When I first met her, everyone was making jokes about me liking her and stuff, so I kind of just assumed that I was supposed to have a crush on her. I don't know if I ever did really love her. Like-- that. At least. I don't know. That's why I broke up with her. Because I realized what I felt for her wasn't romantic love, it was more like obsession."
Will nodded along as Mike spoke, allowing every word to process in his head.
"What made you realize? That you didn't really love her like that?" Will questioned cautiously, lowering his voice just a bit and leaning forward. The sound of Christmas music from downstairs was faint in his ears as he awaited a response, not helping with the serious tone of their conversation.
Mike took a deep breath, running another nervous hand through his hair. "I guess she's just... Not the one."
Will nodded his head, not completely satisfied with the answer. The anxious energy that surrounded Will made him not completely sure if he was being honest.
"So that's why you were so weird to me this entire time? Because you realized your ex-girlfriend wasn't the one for you," Will said, hurt filling his voice, but still trying not to sound rude.
Mike shook his head, adjusting his position and getting closer to Will. "No! Not at all!" He said, a bit louder than intended. Will just looked at him with hurt in his eyes, and Mike grounded himself with his hands before continuing. "I treated you like that because I'm just... A fucking idiot. I treated you like that for nothing other than what was going on with me internally. It had absolutely nothing to do with you."
Will nodded, but he didn't understand.
Mike looked at him with a look that asked, "are we good?" and Will didn't know what to say to it.
"It just- It sucked. Really bad. We're supposed to be friends. Best friends. This past 7 months I've felt like a stranger! Like I don't even know you, even though you used to be the most important person in my world. I don't think you understood how painful it was. It was worse than being in California, Mike. Because I could see you, and I consistently saw you, but you still made no effort to talk to me." Will's voice broke as he spoke. he looked down, not wanting Mike to see him cry. He pressed his palm to his eye, wishing the tears away. he felt Mike's eyes on him. piercing holes in his skull.
"I just... I love you so much, Mike. It hurt to be treated like that. That's all." Will said.
Mike started at him with a shocked expression, and it took Will a moment to comprehend what he had just said to him.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Will said, playfully shoving Mike. As he laid his hand on Mike's shoulder, Mike caught his wrist, looking at him in the eyes, completely shifting the mood of the conversation. Mike's lips glanced down at Will's lips, and before Will knew what was happening, Mikes lips her on his.
The contact was short, like the kiss that Mike and El had shared earlier, except there was feeling behind this one.
When Mike pulled away, Will just stared at him, astonished.
"Fuck-- i completely misread that didn't I-" Mike started but was cut off by Will's lips on his. He gasped onto the kiss, grabbing onto his shoulder's. So many thoughts filled both of their heads, so many things they wanted to discuss, but in that moment the only thing that mattered was their lips on each other.
Mike fell back, allowing Will to climb on top of him, the kiss gaining intensity rapidly. Their hands were everywhere. One of Mike's hands were gripping Will's shirt; the other was buried in his hair. Will supported himself with both hands, but allowed himself to press his body onto Mike's, a new hunger inside of him that he didn't know he had. Mike lightly sucked on Will's bottom lip, eliciting a gasp from Will.
Will pulled away, the realness of the moment suddenly dawning on him. Mike looked at him, confused and nervous, his face flushed and nervous. Will backed off, the intensity filling him with nervousness when he realized what just happened.
"Holy shit." Will said.
"Holy shit." Mike responded with a laugh.
The Christmas music from downstairs filled their ears as the two of them caught their breaths, allowing what just happened to settle in their minds.
Mike glanced at his clock on his bedside table, and it read 12:01. Will traced Mike's eyes, looking at the clock.
Their eyes met for a moment before they laughed, falling onto each other like it was the most natural thing ever, and maybe it was.
Mike held onto Will, stroking his back, trying to fill him with the comfort he wished he had given him the past seven months. He pressed an apologetic kiss into his hair, and whispered, "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Mike."